Divorce adds ten years to your working life

His divorce from Wendi Deng means Rupert Murdoch may have to work an extra ten years to make up his squandered nest egg – though one suspects he wouldn’t mind that. Photo: Getty Images

Fiona Smith

As if we needed any more proof that marriage is the most important decision you will ever make, here comes the kicker: a divorce could add ten years to your working life.

And not in a good way.

According to Suncorp, 83 per cent of divorcees do not consider superannuation in their settlement.

“The hidden cost of divorce is that it adds 10 years to your working life and is the reality for 84,000 Australians each year,” says Suncorp’s Head of Everyday Super Lisa Harrison.

Ten years is the time that it takes to re-establish the level of wealth and lifestyle that the divorcee enjoyed before the split.

Harrison says the majority of happily married Australians expect to retire in their mid-to-late 60s, but divorcees work into their 70s and beyond.

“Legally, a divorcee is entitled to half their partner’s super. Considering super during divorce could mean the difference between being able to retire when you want to, rather than having to work well into your 70s and beyond,” she says.

A longer life and more money

It is cheaper: two people can live as cheaply as one-and-a-half people, sharing resources and costs.

Cheer squad: married men are more successful at work and married women earn more.

Live longer: single men have mortality rates 250 per cent higher than married men, while single women have a 50 per cent increase (which means men who don’t like to commit really are self-destructive). Having a spouse can add 10 years to your life due to the reduction in cancer rates.

Life is good: married men are half as likely to commit suicide as single men and one-third as likely as divorced ones. Married people report lower levels of depression and stress.

Safer: wives are five times less likely than single and divorced women to be the victims of violence, and husbands are four times less likely. (Domestic violence statistics also include ex-husbands and boyfriends).

Better sex: Apparently, about 40 per cent of married people have sex twice a week, compared with 20-25 per cent of single and cohabiting men and women.

BRW

BY Fiona Smith

Fiona is Work Space editor for BRW, covering workplace and career issues
from our Sydney newsroom.